Battle of Styria
Fought between remaining Imperial forces of Subsector Mortis and the emergent faith of Bahal’din’Murr, the resulting imperial defeat paved the way for the emergent Triarchy to assume a position of power and dominance over the subsector. Background Imperial hold over the subsector was weak over the last few centuries culminating in the subsector governor himself and significant portions of the imperial navy stationed in the subsector rebelling against the sector government as one of the Thirteen Rebellions. The source of this rebellion stemmed from the lack of support from the wider sector to combat the Xo’nad threat within the subsector. Though the Xo’nad have already splintered into competing states they still posed a substantial threat to the subsector especially those that bordered such them and were subject to periodic slave raids however the Sector faced other threats such as the Grave and the occasional Ork Waaagh meant that gathering the force required to purge the subsector of the Xo’nad was a fools dream. Though the rebels were persuaded to stand down after a quick negotiation with a promise to not redeploy imperial navy until the Xo’nad threat was ended when the Ursus dynasty came to power they quickly ignored said promise and not only ordered the redeployment of most if not all ships of the imperial navy but also an astronomical tithe. This dealt a death blow to imperial rule. During the Century of Woe a term coined by the remaining imperials in the ensuing anarchy the heretical creed of Bahal’din’Murr came to prominence and came to wrest control over the subsector capital. Battle The imperial forces though a shadow of their former selves from constant attacks from invaders hoping to conquer Styria still had substantial forces left. The navy was bolstered by ships and recruits from the smuggler routes which were recently pacified. The defense grids were largely intact and several inquisitors and their retinues who fought a long and losing shadow war to prevent any non-imperial forces in the subsector from becoming too powerful have agreed to stand side by side to repel this latest invasion. The new faith led by their prophet and avatar of their God Murr outmatched the imperial forces several degrees. Though there were distinct areas where the imperium had the advantage. The first is that they still had about a dozen several ships of the line that survived since the revolts. Murr had a far larger fleet but it was mostly composed of frigrates, destroyers and corvettes. Compounding this was the fact the Imperium had time to prepare for the invasion and proceeded to apply a scorched earth campaign on the systems on the way to the capital which itself bristled with defensive emplacements. Lastly, the Belisaurian governor correctly surmised that the planet was to be taken intact as much as possible. He then planned to have the fleet bleed Murr’s until the last moment and escape to nearby systems to repair and conduct hit and run attacks. Murr’s fleet would be locked in place protecting the vulnerable troop transports as they invaded the planet which itself was protected by the imperial guard and pdf. All in all the battle would be a victory to Murr but a costly one in terms ships, soldiers and how much of the planet will be left. When both fleets were mere moments from opening fire upon each other over the throne world, the forces of Bahal’din’Murr played their trump card. A third of the imperial noble houses and their associated forces declared their allegiance to Murr and began to attack from within. The Imperial lines quickly dissolved as imperial ships were unsure of the allegiance of their sister ships or were taken over outright and began firing upon their former comrades. Imperial forces also suffered from assassins and kill teams from the traitor nobles backed by teams of the Verda Strazar which eliminated key personnel and secured imperial command centers transmitting vital information to the invasion fleet and turning the defense grid against the imperials. The Belisaurian governor was killed inside his own command bunker planetside where he intended to make his stand. The flagship Pride of Deus suffered also a similar fate. The admiral though loyal was assassinated by his second in command. The inquisitor on board and his retinue were also massacred with the exception of his interrogator Letra Macvicarv who was able to survive and escape the ship which began to descend into a battleground as Imperial forces were able to rally and stall the traitors from using the ship. Originally, the interrogator intended to organize the nearby imperial units near the flagship to render support but when she understood the full scale of the treachery consigned the battle as lost and signalled the retreat. Pausing only to conduct a rescue operation of the Belisaurian heir trapped inside a safe room within her deceased father’s command bunker, the Interrogator and those ships she was able to rally and convince quickly escaped the battle. Aftermath Surviving imperial forces quickly regrouped and headed for the smuggler routes stopping only to gather the remaining loyalist in the systems surrounding the capital and destroying the rest with orbital bombardment. For the emergent Triarchy this was a clear victory to cement their rule. The fleet still took heavy loses but was bolstered newly captured ships including the newly christened flagship Pride of Styria. The orbital yard was taken intact though at the cost of letting a substantial number of imperial forces escape. The ground campaign also captured the throne world mostly in one piece as Imperial forces for the most part were uncoordinated and isolated. A few hives surrendered outright in fear or opened their gates in celebration when their noble masters revealed their allegiance.